Two clay-court events for Bopanna and Balaji pair ahead of Olympics

CHENNAI: India's Sriram Balaji had to wait for a long time for his dream to turn into reality.
At 34, the Tamil Nadu tennis player is enjoying his peak and is set for his maiden appearance at the Olympic Games in Paris. For the quadrennial extravaganza, Balaji got the nod ahead of his closest challenger Yuki Bhambri after Rohan Bopanna suggested his name to the All India Tennis Association (AITA).
While Balaji's next big assignment is Wimbledon, he has his plans sorted for the Olympics. Bopanna and Balaji will join hands after Wimbledon and compete in two clay-court tournaments in the lead-up to the Games, where tennis events will be played at Roland Garros. "We will be playing in ATP 500 Hamburg (Germany) and ATP 250 Umag (Croatia). We will be getting together right after the completion of Wimbledon," Sriram told TOI from England, where he is turning out in the ATP Ilkley Challenger.
"It is a dream-come-true moment and it is always special when you play for the country. I am happy that Rohan chose me as his partner, and I am looking forward to the Olympics. Playing in Paris was always in the back of my mind, with Yuki and me ranked the highest among the Indians (behind Bopanna)," Balaji added.
Just before suggesting his name to the AITA, Bopanna got a taste of Balaji's fighting spirit in the French Open third round. Balaji and Miguel Angel ReyesVarela, entering the main draw as alternates, went toe-to-toe against Bopanna and Matthew Ebden before the second seeds won the tight three-set contest.
"The French Open performance played its part, but I will not say that it was the only reason for my selection. After the match, Bopanna told me that he was going to pick me and send an email to the AITA. He would have had a lot of discussions with his coach Scott [Davidoff] and Balu sir (M Balachandran) for the ideal choice and I did not know anything about this."